General News of Monday, 8 July 2002

Source: The Spectator

Aggrey girls called boys' "Yawa" which led to their whipping

Cape Coast (Central Region) -- The root to the recent incident at the Aggrey Memorial School that led to the flogging of some female students at the school by their male counterparts has been established by ?The Spectator.? The incident took place during a Sunday Evening Church Service.

The Spectator has established that the girls in the school referred to their male counterparts as ?Yawa? during the schools? 12th Annual Athletics Competition held at the Adisadel College Park at Cape Coast. ?Yawa,? according to the paper?s sources implies that the Aggrey boys are inferior, not recognised and low in standard.

The female students were alleged to have expressed this sentiment shortly after the competition when their male counterparts found them chatting with the male students from Adisadel College. The Aggrey boys, angry with their female colleagues fraternising with the male students from Adisadel College and referring to them as ?YAWA?, decided to teach the girls a lesson.

On 17 March, the Aggrey boys switched off the lights on the campus whiles the school?s Sunday evening service was being held and pounced on them with sticks and belts. They lashed those they got hold off and flogged them. Some of the girls in their attempt to flee the assault fell down and received various degrees of injuries. A few others fell unconscious. Over 50 of them were rushed to hospital where they were treated with two others being admitted at the Central Regional Hospital.